Dental Medicine and Orthodontics

Introduction: Mandibular canine impaction with or without transmigration is regarded as a much rarer

phenomenon and there are limited studies revealing its frequency of occurrence. Canine impactions occur

20 times more frequently in the maxilla than in the mandible and impacted maxillary canines have not

been observed migrating across the midline palatal suture. The cause is usually a supernumerary tooth, an

odontoma or crowding. It may, however, occur with no apparent reason. This problem has several solutions.

The tooth could be surgically exposed and moved into the dental arch orthodontically, an autotransplantation

could be performed or the cuspid can be extracted.

 

Case Presentation: Here we present a case of a 13 year old girl with an impacted and transmigrated lower

cuspid. The autotransplantation was chosen as the treatment method. The autotransplantation was performed

in the Clinic Paro Rotterdam. Because the root formation of the cuspid was complete an endodontic treatment

was performed two weeks after the autotransplantation. The postoperative phase developed without

complications and the orthodontic treatment was completed within 11 months after the autotransplantation.

 

Conclusion: In 1933 Harry Wright stated that in order to have a normal occlusion all the permanent teeth

should be present and in a correct position. Referring to the impacted teeth and their treatment affirmed that:

“Is easier to extract such a tooth than to aide his eruption”. Unfortunately, affirmations are still present; there

are still clinicians who choose for extraction of the lower impacted cuspid even if the position of the cuspid

allows the autotransplantation.